Everyone knows a family that has crazy drama and more than a few secrets. It could even be your own relatives. But let me tell you something. No family has as much drama, or are hiding as many secrets, as the Gibson’s from Palmdale, California. I’m talking next level stuff. Rachel Howzell Hall takes family drama to the extreme in We Lie Here, a psychological mystery that boils the brain and has more twists and turns than Lombard Street in San Francisco. It’s a fast-paced, suspenseful, dramatic thriller that begs to be consumed quickly with a relentless desire to learn the truth.
Yara Gibson has come home to Palmdale to throw her parents a 20th anniversary party. However, she would rather be anywhere but here. Between her increased asthma attacks from the climate and dealing with her overbearing mother Barbara, this is not a stress-free vacation. On top of everything going on, Yara receives a text from an unknown number stating the individual possesses life changing information and needs to urgently meet. But before Yara can get the information, this person winds up dead. Oh, and the individual is her mother’s cousin, whom she’s never met. Anxiety levels immediately increase and Yara starts to dig into her family’s past, finding things that don’t add up and put her in growing danger. But Yara won’t stop until she learns the truth. A truth that will change things forever.
To say We Lie Here keeps the reader guessing is a gross understatement. It literally takes until the final chapter for the big reveal. Meanwhile, you’re constantly evaluating the actions of each character, wondering what they’re capable of and questioning their motives. Who’s lying? What are they hiding? Are things as they seem? Is someone pulling the strings from behind the curtain? Who’s capable of murder? All great queries that you’ll change your mind on numerous times throughout the story. And even if you think you’ve correctly guessed the answers to these questions, you won’t have strong conviction until the end because Rachel Howzell Hall introduces plenty of reasonable doubt to all your theories.
Kudos to Rachel Howzell Hall for crafting this intricate, anxious, winding tale centered on family drama. While I certainly hope the vast majority of people haven’t experienced this level of family dysfunction, everyone can easily find a way to relate with interesting family dynamics. Which makes it easy to connect with certain characters, building hopes in the reader for what they want to see happen to/for certain individuals. And you’ll just have to read all the way through to see if those hopes become a reality.
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